Abstract
Purpose
Adolescent mental illness often goes undetected. Youth and teen Mental Health First
Aid (MHFA) are variations of adult MHFA that aims to help adults and adolescents recognize
the signs and provide help where appropriate. We conducted a systematic review to
summarize the current evidence for youth and teen MHFA, providing direction for future
training and research.
Methods
A systematic search was performed on September 12, 2020 on PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO,
ERIC, and Cochrane using keywords related to teen or youth MHFA, adolescents, and
mental health. A narrative synthesis was then carried out.
Results
Of the 695 articles identified, 14 studies were included. All studies were from the
U.S. and Australia. All studies demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge,
recognition, stigmatizing attitudes, confidence, helping intentions, and helping behavior
in both adult and youth participants. Improvement in knowledge and confidence was
most reported, and improvement in helping behavior was the least reported. There is
encouraging evidence of long-term benefits after the training.
Conclusions
More studies need to be conducted in non-Western countries, high-risk populations,
and different professional settings. Future interventions could also consider different
modes of learning, longer-term follow-up, and the measurement of outcomes that evaluate
the quality of helping behavior.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 18, 2020
Accepted:
October 12,
2020
Received:
July 4,
2020
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.
